Of All the Stupid Things by Alexandra Diaz

Tara, Pinkie, and Whitney Blaire have been friends since they were children and Tara saved Whitney Blaire from where she was stuck in a tree. Thus their bond was created and they all play a vital role.

Pinkie is the mother hen who is always checking up on the well-being of her chicks due to the fact that she lost her own mother at a very young age. Tara is the dependable and independent one who does what she is supposed to and trains hard for her marathon because she is running from the truth. Whitney Blaire is kind of the wild card because she is accustomed to getting what she wants and knows just how to work her assets, until they backfire on her.

Everything was chugging along just fine until Whitney Blaire heard an unsavory story about Tara's beefy jock boyfriend Brent. It turns out he was cheating on Tara with one of the cheerleaders. Correction, one of the guy cheerleaders. This one incident changes the friendship between these three girls in ways they could never imagine. Tara loses herself to her training and in doing so finds herself drawn to the new girl in school Riley. This drives Whitney Blaire insane and causes catfights between her and the new girl. As a result, Tara shies away from her longtime friends. This sends Pinkie into an absolute tizzy and she feels the need to worry needlessly about every little thing.

As the story moves through these hardships, the girls grow up in a sense and their relationships change with everyone in their lives.

I have to say, the premise sounded really good to me. A story about three friends who go through a tumultuous time in their lives and come out on the other side sounds really interesting. Unfortunately the execution could have been better. I felt like the only character who really changed or grew at all as a person was Tara. She realized her own worth and stood up for what made her happy.

Pinkie still gave in to being a momma's girl, even though her mother has long been dead. Whitney Blaire is just as despicable at the end of the novel as she was at the beginning. Brent was no better really, although his storyline faded into the background and we never really found out what really happened to him. The parents of these children were no better either. Most of them seemed over the top dramatic and unrealistic to me. I know that parents like these exist, but they just seemed too "cookie-cutter" for me.

I really wanted to like this book, but it just left a sour taste in my mouth and unresolved issues at the end of the novel. It just fizzled for me.